French Community

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The Communauté française ( German-  French Community , officially la Communauté ) was a community of states and peoples of the former French Union created by the constitution of the Fifth French Republic of October 4, 1958 . After only a few years it had become politically insignificant, but was not formally dissolved until August 4, 1995 .

history

On October 4, 1958, the Community of the French Republic was founded with overseas territories and originally twelve member states. Of the original constituent republics of the Union française , Guinea had voted against admission.

Since it was founded in 1958, the Communauté has developed from a relatively close community with clearly defined organs to a loose alliance. Only the President of the French Republic was recognized as head of the community. The Executive Council (i.e. the government) was soon replaced by a regular conference of heads of state and government. The Senate , which was essentially an advisory body, consisted of 186 representatives from the French Parliament and 98 representatives from the legislative assemblies of the member countries. It was disbanded in March 1961. The Court of Arbitration closed in July 1961. The name la Communauté was officially hardly used since June 1961. In its place was the Afro-Madagascar Union or, since 1970, the Francophonie took over.

With the French constitutional law of August 4, 1995, the Community was finally repealed and the relevant provisions deleted from the 1958 Constitution of the French Republic.

Former member states

Communauté 1959

•  France

and the countries

•  Benin (until 1960/61, then Dahomey)
•  Burkina Faso (until 1960/61, then Upper Volta)
•  Ivory Coast (until 1960/61)
•  Gabon
•  Republic of the Congo as (Central) Congo (from 1960 also: Republic of the Congo ) 
•  Madagascar
•  Mali (until 1960, as a colony and territory until 1960: French Sudan )
•  Mauritania (until 1960/61)
•  Niger (until 1960/61)
•  Senegal
•  Chad
•  Central African Republic (as a colony and territory until 1958 Ubangi-Shari)

as well as "associated" states:

•  Cameroon and
•  Togo

Community 1961

French-African Community

In the African year 1960, Dahomey, Niger, Upper Volta, Ivory Coast, Mali and Mauritania opted for complete independence - that is, all of the former French West Africa except Senegal. In the Communauté Franco-Afro-Malgache (CFAM, French-African-Malagasy Community) initially the republics of French Equatorial Africa - Gabon, Congo (Brazzaville), Chad and the Central African Republic - as well as the Malagasy Republic, Senegal and the French overseas territories remained.

Community jurisdiction

Under the French Constitution of 1958, the Community was responsible for foreign policy , defense , monetary affairs , common economic and financial policy, and raw materials essential to warfare, and in some cases also the control of the judiciary , university teaching and the general organization of common foreign trade and telecommunications . There was only one nationality in the community .

The Community Executive Council until 1960 consisted of the President of France, the Prime Minister of France, the heads of government of the Member States and the French ministers who were responsible for directing common affairs.

Until March 1961, the Community Senate consisted of 300 delegates from the French National Assembly, the French Senate and the parliamentary assemblies of the member states of the Community.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bernard Lugan: Histoire de l'Afrique. Des origines à nos jours. Ellipses Editions Paris, 2009, p. 771.